In California the use of the word "grant" in any conveyance by which an estate of fee simple or inheritance is to be passed, implies on the part of the grantor, for himself and his heirs, to the grantee, unless restricted by express terms, the making of the following covenants, which may be sued upon as though they had been expressly inserted in the deed, namely:

That previous to the time of the execution of the conveyance the grantor has not conveyed the same estate, or any right, title or interest therein, to any person other than the grantee; and that such estate is free from incumbrances done, committed or suffered by the grantor or any person claiming under him.

(f) Description, (1) The land conveyed should be accurately and clearly described. The boundary lines are determined by physical objects, such as monuments, courses and distances, the number of acres, etc. All of the land in the United States, outside of the original thirteen colonies, is supposed to have been surveyed by the general government, and the boundaries determined by fixed monuments. Government surveys are made on the rectangular system, east and west lines being run with the parallels of latitude and north and south township lines with the meridians of longitude. A tier of townships running north and south is called a "range" and each range is numbered according to whether it is east or west of the principal meridian. Each township is also numbered as it is north or south of the base line.

(2) The description for a conveyance is ordinarily obtained from the deed in the possession of the grantor, or from the certificate of title, and it is safe to follow either of these. Where land is subdivided and a portion only sold, it is necessary, of course, to have the land surveyed, and boundary stakes or other monuments set, and the land conveyed according to the description furnished by the surveyor. In case the transfer is passed in escrow through a title company, as is now done in large cities, if there are any defects in the surveyor's description, the same will be pointed out and an accurate description required before the deed will be placed of record.

In the absence of any qualifying term, the designation in a conveyance of any physical object or monument as a boundary implies the middle or central point of such boundary, as, for example, if the boundary be a road or highway or a stream, the thread of the road or stream will be intended; if a rock, a heap of stones, or a tree be the boundary, the central point of such tree or rock or heap of stones will be intended.

(3) A township is 36 sections, each a mile square. A section is 640 acres. A quarter section, half a mile square, is 160 acres. An eigth of a section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide, is 80 acres. A sixteenth of a section, a quarter of a mile square, is 40 acres.

The sections are all numbered 1 to 36, commencing at northeast corner, thus:

The sections are all divided in quarters, which are named by the cardinal points, as in section 1. The quarters are divided in the same way, as shown in the smaller diagram. The description of a forty-acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of the southwest quarter, or the north-east quarter of the northeast quarter, as the case might be, of section 1 in township 24 north, of range 7 west, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian. A section or quarter section will sometimes fall short and sometimes overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.

(4) Monuments, courses and distances, and the number of acres, govern as to the quantity of land in the order named.

Monuments are permanent land marks specially made use of for indicating boundaries. They are usually set by the surveyor, or are referred to by him in his description of the survey, and may consist of stakes, stones, trees, streams, springs, etc. If ten acres were mentioned in a certain deed as the number of acres intended to be conveyed, and the quantity was found by survey to consist of only eight acres, the monuments would govern, and only eight acres would be conveyed. If the seller truly points out the boundaries, the buyer has no redress, even if the seller were to overstate the number of acres; but the buyer would be released from the sale if the seller were to make a fraudulent statement as to the boundaries. Monuments are, therefore, the first means of ascertaining the boundaries.

(5) Courses and distances or metes and bounds, as they are sometimes called, are the second means of ascertaining the boundaries. Courses and distances are the lines followed by the surveyor in going around a piece of land. The surveyor's chain is 66 feet long, is divided into 100 links, and each link is 7.92 inches; 625 square links make a square pole, 16 square poles a square chain, and 10 square chains an acre. An acre contains 43,560 square feet. Boundaries are usually expressed in feet, and the following table will assist in making an accurate estimate of land for the dimensions given, namely:

(6) The third means of ascertaining the boundaries is by reference to the number of acres, or old maps, or lines of adjoining surveys, etc. If a map is referred to, and the map is of record, the effect, so far as the boundaries are concerned, will be the same as if the boundaries were inserted in the deed.

(7) Maps may be referred to by designating the map and the number of the lot as laid down thereon.

(g) Reddendum means a reservation made by the grantor to himself out of the estate granted, and the reservation must be described so as to be readily identified.

(h) The Habendum. The duration of the estate conveyed, and sometimes the use, are limited by this clause. Under ordinary circumstances the words of limitation in the "grant" or "operative words," and in this clause should be the same.